Tool mesmerizes crowd

By TRAVIS HAY, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, May 2, 2006

It's not a secret that Tool singer Maynard James Keenan is no fan of religion. A few years ago as an April Fool's Day joke he said that he had found Jesus and was going to leave his band and no one believed him. No one that is, except for MTV, which posted the story on its Web site.

However, at Tuesday night's tour opener for Tool at the Paramount, Keenan was the closest thing to a pastor onstage during the band's 90-minute set. Throughout the show he spread his band's gospel to a mesmerized crowd, which hung on every one of Maynard's words as if they were all reading out of the same heavy metal hymn book.

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For the most of the show, Keenan stood towards the back of the stage and out of the spotlight, as per Tool tradition. The times he was highly visible came when the stage lighting hit him just right, revealing the shirtless singer with a spiky mohawk.

The band performed in front of four vertical video screens, which were separated by large lighting rigs. The screens played Tool's videos in a panoramic style during some songs and, for the songs without videos, creepy images flashed on the screens. The overall effect created an intense whirlwind of progressive metal, flashy lights and trippy images.

As with all opening nights of tours, there were still some kinks to be ironed out. The show's openers "Lost Key" and "Rosetta Stoned," both from the group's new record "10,000 Days," were so loud it felt like the Paramount's crown molding might crack. The heavy volume made it difficult to understand anything Keenan was singing. Later in the set, the bass from a gong hit by drummer Danny Jones during "Lateralus" resonated so deep and loud that layers of dust likely were shaken off the venues chandeliers.

Once the sound problems were solved the band seemed unstoppable. Tool blazed through 13 songs including "Stinkfist," "Sober," "Schism" and others. Tool's new songs sounded almost better than its older material. "The Pot" and "Jambi" are two of the heaviest songs in Tool's catalog and each showcases guitarist Adam Jones' shredding skills.

Tickets to see Tool were expensive (nearly $80 a pop including service charges and tax) and sold out minutes after going on sale, so there is a big demand to see Keenan and his crew. Hopefully, for those who couldn't get into Tuesday's mammoth show, that demand will be filled. With bright lights, fancy video screens and enough sound to fill The Gorge, expect to see Tool coming to an arena or amphitheatre near you soon.